Food Justice: In the Community

Hello friends!

I am Adele, one of Beaverton Food Project’s co-founders! In October 2023, I moved across the country to New York City to start my new job at a non-profit called Center for Family Life. CFL is a neighborhood-based family and social services organization with deep roots in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. CFL's goal is to empower individuals of all ages in Sunset Park through community-driven family and social services. As a densely populated, low-income area with a significant immigrant population, CFL provides vital resources for families to flourish. Some of these resources include family counseling, educational programs at local schools, employment assistance for adults and youth, and they offer a food pantry as well.

At CFL, I serve as a Food Justice instructor in the after-school program, primarily engaging with elementary students, along with some middle schoolers. Upon taking on this position, I encountered the task of crafting a Food Justice curriculum. Initially, I felt confident, drawing from my involvement in launching a mutual aid initiative in 2020, my minor in food studies during university, and the abundance of online resources. However, I soon realized that while there were numerous teaching materials for higher-grade levels, there wasn’t nearly as much for the age group I was teaching. With winter approaching and lacking access to a kitchen, I had to come up with ways to teach these crucial lessons within our limited space and budget.

In my experience so far with teaching, I've discovered that it involves a significant amount of trial and error. You experiment with different approaches, and sometimes students show little interest, while other times they are enthusiastic about the activity. Gradually, you identify what resonates well with them and integrate those elements into future lessons, eventually finding your rhythm. I'd like to share some of the lessons that have proved successful for me. While occasionally I have access to the cafeteria, most times I am limited to the classrooms, especially during cold weather when going outside hasn’t been an option. This may just serve as useful documentation of my lesson plans for personal reference, but I also hope it becomes valuable to others facing similar challenges. Food Justice is a relatively new topic, and I believe it's important to collaborate, share resources, and make information more accessible to all.

Lots and lots of love,

Adele Gunter